Mostly Fic, Some of the Time

Entries tagged with ch: dru

For Trick or Treat my recip gave me a bunch of great characters to work with and carte blanche in terms of femslash ships, and so I wrote this Dru/Faith fic that involves dreams and a corset and other old-fashioned underwear.

As a part of the Awesome Ladies Podfic Anthology VI, cool people have podficced two of my old Buffyverse stories! They happen to be two personal favorites, so I am doubly pleased. Have a listen, if you are so inclined!

Again, recorded by RickyPulsifer - Darla+Lindsay McDonald, Ats, 8 minutesThe first time Darla rose from the dead, it wasn't like this.

Title: Tea PartiesFandom: Buffy the Vampire SlayerPairing: Dru/BuffybotWords / Rating: 1300 words / PG-13Spoilers: through 6.09 Smashed for background detailsSummary: Dru has lost all her dollies, but she knows where to find a new one.

A/N: Written for brutti_ma_buoni for rarewomen. In her dear author letter Brutti basically dared me to write any two of her listed characters in the same fic, and this was the result. I meant for it to be gen, but it refused. Warning: I ended it with the most obvious pun imaginable, because I couldn't help myself. I AM ONLY A LITTLE BIT SORRY.

This recs post is half things-from-last-year-I-can't-believe-I-haven't-recced-yet (rediscovered when I was putting together my buffyversetop5 posts), half older finds, and one brand-spanking-new fic that hasn't gotten nearly enough love yet. Also a pretty even split between the Spuffy stuff and the other stuff.

Teh Spuffy

Fin Amour, by angeariaAU S5; Spike/BuffyNot the first Buffy-is-pregnant-with-the-Key fic I've read but almost certainly my favorite, this has occasionally humorous, eventually gorgeous Spuffy stuff going on in it, plus a three-hankie angst warning. Really lovely and on my list of Favoritest Babyfics Ever.

Let Nothing You Dismay, by constance_bS5; Spike/BuffyIn this old-school fic, Buffy gets nabbed by Initiative-type bad guys, and it's up to Spike and Dawn to save her. Too bad Spike has to get his chip out to do it, and too bad he doesn't have snowball's chance of getting her to trust him. Weird to say, but my favorite bit here is the epilogue, which I think I've read at least twice as many times as I've read the rest of the fic.

I, Robot, by caloveS5; Spike/BuffyAnother classic that I somehow missed. Giles and the Scoobies order a Spikebot for Buffy for training purposes. Surprisingly, this results in much less porn than one would expect and many more sweet character moments of Buffy and Spike, together and separate. (Also: Spikebot/Buffybot, the match made in Warren's basement. The hijinks they could get up to, if only Spikebot were anatomically correct!)

Apologies: A Dialogue, by willowgreenpost-series; Spike/BuffyBy magical means unspecified, Spike and Buffy are made to actually talk out all the things they're sorry for. The author apologizes for the meta nature of the fic, but honestly, I love seeing these two get all their issues out in the open. Basically a sweet, lovely fic despite the subject matter.

Obstacles, by shapinglightpost-series; Spike/BuffyAn oldie-but-goodie that I read long ago and have been cogitating on all this time. In a happy Spuffy future, Buffy's sudden loss of her powers throws huge tension into her life and her relationship with Spike. Despite the Spuffy nature, what's stuck with me most strongly about this fic is how Buffy comes to terms and deals with her, ah, handicap. It's one of the first fics that started me on the path to understanding the hero that is Buffy Summers.

~~~~~

The Other Stuff

Taking Care of Business, by brutti_ma_buonipost-NFA; Faith, Wesley, IllyriaAfter it all, Faith comes to clean up some loose ends at W&H, specifically Wesley, who appears to be alive when he's supposed to be dead. Some great lines, some lovely character interaction, a beheading or two, a conclusion that fits perfectly even when you wish it didn't.

Courting Sin, by leni_baS2 AU; Buffy/AngelusI'm really only interested in Buffy/Angel in S2, and then only because of the way it subverts any number of romantic and horror tropes. Buffy/Angel happily ever after does nothing for me. However, I seem to have a weakness for twisted dark manipulative Buffy/Angelus, of which I'd be unaware were it not for this fic. Claustrophobic and brooding, with a narrative style that skates on the edge of traditional, this is a really impressive example of the sort of thing it is. Highly recommended for those who think they might like that sort of thing.

Battlefield of the Gods, by bobthemolepost-series AU; Glory, IllyriaTwo old acquaintances of the multi-dimensional pantheon get together for coffee. Humor and Glory!pwnage ensues, as it should. Delightful.

Wide and Starry Sky, by brutti_ma_buoniRulesverse; Wes/IllyriaA companion piece to the Rulesverse Spuffy babyfic Winds Blowing Chill, this is about Wes and Illyria working towards something that might possibly be a relationship, and I think it's the fic that started me shipping them in the first place. Plus it's got Illyria leaving a message on an answering machine, which is difficult to beat for sheer fabulousness.

Silence Speaks, by knifeedgeficpre-series; DruThe beginning of what the author says will be an ongoing series of Dru-centered ficlets, these first few are fascinating and chewy, with some very sharply written imagery. I'm always interested in fic about Dru, and these are very satisfying indeed.

This recs post is half things-from-last-year-I-can't-believe-I-haven't-recced-yet (rediscovered when I was putting together my buffyversetop5 posts), half older finds, and one brand-spanking-new fic that hasn't gotten nearly enough love yet. Also a pretty even split between the Spuffy stuff and the other stuff.

Teh Spuffy

Fin Amour, by angeariaAU S5; Spike/BuffyNot the first Buffy-is-pregnant-with-the-Key fic I've read but almost certainly my favorite, this has occasionally humorous, eventually gorgeous Spuffy stuff going on in it, plus a three-hankie angst warning. Really lovely and on my list of Favoritest Babyfics Ever.

Let Nothing You Dismay, by constance_bS5; Spike/BuffyIn this old-school fic, Buffy gets nabbed by Initiative-type bad guys, and it's up to Spike and Dawn to save her. Too bad Spike has to get his chip out to do it, and too bad he doesn't have snowball's chance of getting her to trust him. Weird to say, but my favorite bit here is the epilogue, which I think I've read at least twice as many times as I've read the rest of the fic.

I, Robot, by caloveS5; Spike/BuffyAnother classic that I somehow missed. Giles and the Scoobies order a Spikebot for Buffy for training purposes. Surprisingly, this results in much less porn than one would expect and many more sweet character moments of Buffy and Spike, together and separate. (Also: Spikebot/Buffybot, the match made in Warren's basement. The hijinks they could get up to, if only Spikebot were anatomically correct!)

Apologies: A Dialogue, by willowgreenpost-series; Spike/BuffyBy magical means unspecified, Spike and Buffy are made to actually talk out all the things they're sorry for. The author apologizes for the meta nature of the fic, but honestly, I love seeing these two get all their issues out in the open. Basically a sweet, lovely fic despite the subject matter.

Obstacles, by shapinglightpost-series; Spike/BuffyAn oldie-but-goodie that I read long ago and have been cogitating on all this time. In a happy Spuffy future, Buffy's sudden loss of her powers throws huge tension into her life and her relationship with Spike. Despite the Spuffy nature, what's stuck with me most strongly about this fic is how Buffy comes to terms and deals with her, ah, handicap. It's one of the first fics that started me on the path to understanding the hero that is Buffy Summers.

~~~~~

The Other Stuff

Taking Care of Business, by brutti_ma_buonipost-NFA; Faith, Wesley, IllyriaAfter it all, Faith comes to clean up some loose ends at W&H, specifically Wesley, who appears to be alive when he's supposed to be dead. Some great lines, some lovely character interaction, a beheading or two, a conclusion that fits perfectly even when you wish it didn't.

Courting Sin, by leni_baS2 AU; Buffy/AngelusI'm really only interested in Buffy/Angel in S2, and then only because of the way it subverts any number of romantic and horror tropes. Buffy/Angel happily ever after does nothing for me. However, I seem to have a weakness for twisted dark manipulative Buffy/Angelus, of which I'd be unaware were it not for this fic. Claustrophobic and brooding, with a narrative style that skates on the edge of traditional, this is a really impressive example of the sort of thing it is. Highly recommended for those who think they might like that sort of thing.

Battlefield of the Gods, by bobthemolepost-series AU; Glory, IllyriaTwo old acquaintances of the multi-dimensional pantheon get together for coffee. Humor and Glory!pwnage ensues, as it should. Delightful.

Wide and Starry Sky, by brutti_ma_buoniRulesverse; Wes/IllyriaA companion piece to the Rulesverse Spuffy babyfic Winds Blowing Chill, this is about Wes and Illyria working towards something that might possibly be a relationship, and I think it's the fic that started me shipping them in the first place. Plus it's got Illyria leaving a message on an answering machine, which is difficult to beat for sheer fabulousness.

Silence Speaks, by knifeedgeficpre-series; DruThe beginning of what the author says will be an ongoing series of Dru-centered ficlets, these first few are fascinating and chewy, with some very sharply written imagery. I'm always interested in fic about Dru, and these are very satisfying indeed.

I do love the double Spike scenes in the basement, because I am such a sucker for that kind of structural play, and clearly Jane Espenson is too - look at Superstar and Storyteller and Spy in the House of Love (Dollhouse).

Also, I really enjoyed all the scenes with Willow and Anya. I've complained before that there isn't enough same-sex friendship on this show, but episodes like this help make up that lack. Plus you've got the tentativeness and awkwardness and the fact they've never really been friends. Yay. And the Buffy&Willow scene is also an awwww scene (perhaps too much so...).

But generally? Pretty lame. Those scenes in the caves go on forever. Ugh. Willow coming back ought to have been huge and affecting, and they certainly tried, but it, um, didn't take. And the execution of the cool structural premise was not nearly as fabulous as it should have been.

Also: I think this may be the one ep in all of BtVS that just plain grosses me out.

Help

- I like Cassie, although I can't help but think she's pretty wise for her years. - I kept remembering that Wood was getting on Buffy's case about going to Cassie's dad's house and accusing him of child abuse, which he actually didn't. - I was ohsopleased to see Amanda. (Housemate instantly liked her, too. She doesn't know yet that we get more Amanda. Yay, Amanda!)

First big thought: Towards the end, Cassie tells Spike, "She'll tell you. Someday, she'll tell you." Question: did anyone else instantly assume Cassie meant that Buffy would someday tell Spike she loved him? Because the first time through, I took it to mean exactly that, and I waited the whole rest of the season to see it happen.

So, would Spike? Did he spend the whole season anticipating? If so, then his reply there at the end could easily have been worded in advance - sometime after she gave him the amulet, probably.

Second big thought: In Cassie, we have a control case for Dru. Her foresight and Dru's seem remarkably similar, with discrete images and bits of knowledge dropped in their heads without any context or explanation. The key differences are that Cassie is both sane and soulled.

What does that tell us about Dru? I'm not sure, other than that it gives us a much clearer picture of what she might have been like before Angelus.

I do love the double Spike scenes in the basement, because I am such a sucker for that kind of structural play, and clearly Jane Espenson is too - look at Superstar and Storyteller and Spy in the House of Love (Dollhouse).

Also, I really enjoyed all the scenes with Willow and Anya. I've complained before that there isn't enough same-sex friendship on this show, but episodes like this help make up that lack. Plus you've got the tentativeness and awkwardness and the fact they've never really been friends. Yay. And the Buffy&Willow scene is also an awwww scene (perhaps too much so...).

But generally? Pretty lame. Those scenes in the caves go on forever. Ugh. Willow coming back ought to have been huge and affecting, and they certainly tried, but it, um, didn't take. And the execution of the cool structural premise was not nearly as fabulous as it should have been.

Also: I think this may be the one ep in all of BtVS that just plain grosses me out.

Help

- I like Cassie, although I can't help but think she's pretty wise for her years. - I kept remembering that Wood was getting on Buffy's case about going to Cassie's dad's house and accusing him of child abuse, which he actually didn't. - I was ohsopleased to see Amanda. (Housemate instantly liked her, too. She doesn't know yet that we get more Amanda. Yay, Amanda!)

First big thought: Towards the end, Cassie tells Spike, "She'll tell you. Someday, she'll tell you." Question: did anyone else instantly assume Cassie meant that Buffy would someday tell Spike she loved him? Because the first time through, I took it to mean exactly that, and I waited the whole rest of the season to see it happen.

So, would Spike? Did he spend the whole season anticipating? If so, then his reply there at the end could easily have been worded in advance - sometime after she gave him the amulet, probably.

Second big thought: In Cassie, we have a control case for Dru. Her foresight and Dru's seem remarkably similar, with discrete images and bits of knowledge dropped in their heads without any context or explanation. The key differences are that Cassie is both sane and soulled.

What does that tell us about Dru? I'm not sure, other than that it gives us a much clearer picture of what she might have been like before Angelus.

Y'all know I'm rather fond of Drusilla, as can be guessed from my default icon. *points* However, she's more static a character than just about anyone I can think of in the Buffyverse. I'm always glad when she appears on-screen because she's chilling and occasionally humorous and gorgeous, but there's not much there to hang fic on. She's more set piece and plot device and motivation for others than she is a character.

Here, then, are four fics where she is a character and allowed to develop, through various means.

Ministers of Grace, by penny_lane_42This fic is the first - maybe the only? - fic I've ever read that explores Dru pre-turning. "I don't want to be an evil thing," she says in canon, but that's all we ever get to contrast her bloodthirsty innocence with a purer, human kind. Gracefully, sympathetically, this fic follows her as she's tormented first by her foresight and others' reactions to it and then by Angelus, all informed by her religous upbringing and driving to a devastating last line.

The Barter Economy, by bobthemoleThis is fundamentally a horror story about a half-demon ferryman in Peru. However, the horror comes to the story by way of the lovely and venerable vampiress who buys passage up the Amazon. Here Drusilla is not only heartless but purposeful, a fearful combination, and for me half the interest in the fic is the question of what she'll do afterwards.

Untitled AU, by a_pretty_fireLess about character development than the others, but fascinating nonetheless: what if Dru had been chipped instead of Spike? What does a Slayer do, exactly, with a chipped insane vampire? The fic is as much about the Scoobies' response to this quandary as anything else, with an elegant and inevitable ending.

Crazy Madcap Redemption, by hello_spikeyThis is it, folks: the big multi-chapter fic in which Dru gets a chance to choose who she is and be her own person. Dru finds Spike hanging about Wolfram & Hart, and Spike, heartsore, lonely, and remembering sweet times past, takes it upon himself to save her. This doesn't work out quite how either of them expect. It's all very satisfying, with lovely characterizations and occasional bits of Spikey's hilarious dialogue.

Y'all know I'm rather fond of Drusilla, as can be guessed from my default icon. *points* However, she's more static a character than just about anyone I can think of in the Buffyverse. I'm always glad when she appears on-screen because she's chilling and occasionally humorous and gorgeous, but there's not much there to hang fic on. She's more set piece and plot device and motivation for others than she is a character.

Here, then, are four fics where she is a character and allowed to develop, through various means.

Ministers of Grace, by penny_lane_42This fic is the first - maybe the only? - fic I've ever read that explores Dru pre-turning. "I don't want to be an evil thing," she says in canon, but that's all we ever get to contrast her bloodthirsty innocence with a purer, human kind. Gracefully, sympathetically, this fic follows her as she's tormented first by her foresight and others' reactions to it and then by Angelus, all informed by her religous upbringing and driving to a devastating last line.

The Barter Economy, by bobthemoleThis is fundamentally a horror story about a half-demon ferryman in Peru. However, the horror comes to the story by way of the lovely and venerable vampiress who buys passage up the Amazon. Here Drusilla is not only heartless but purposeful, a fearful combination, and for me half the interest in the fic is the question of what she'll do afterwards.

Untitled AU, by a_pretty_fireLess about character development than the others, but fascinating nonetheless: what if Dru had been chipped instead of Spike? What does a Slayer do, exactly, with a chipped insane vampire? The fic is as much about the Scoobies' response to this quandary as anything else, with an elegant and inevitable ending.

Crazy Madcap Redemption, by hello_spikeyThis is it, folks: the big multi-chapter fic in which Dru gets a chance to choose who she is and be her own person. Dru finds Spike hanging about Wolfram & Hart, and Spike, heartsore, lonely, and remembering sweet times past, takes it upon himself to save her. This doesn't work out quite how either of them expect. It's all very satisfying, with lovely characterizations and occasional bits of Spikey's hilarious dialogue.

Title: What She KnewCharacter/Pairing: Riley/Dru ('mong others)Words: a cool 100A/N: for that_september's Three-Sentence prompt "Spike/Buffy," "old loves." (There may, ah, have been some creative reinterpretation of the prompt.)

It's addiction and he's still psych major enough to see it, but that’s why he stays in the abandoned hut at jungle’s edge and lets the hostile drain him, ounce by ounce, every nerve ecstatically afire, until the day this woman Sam walks in, shoots his hostile goddess faceless, and saves him.

He loves her now, that’s not in question, and he never loved the vampire whore, neither of which explains why the dark eerie whispers of gallant dark knights lost to electricity and Slayers in dark throes have sent him back to Sunnydale, just to check. Just to see.

Title: What She KnewCharacter/Pairing: Riley/Dru ('mong others)Words: a cool 100A/N: for that_september's Three-Sentence prompt "Spike/Buffy," "old loves." (There may, ah, have been some creative reinterpretation of the prompt.)

It's addiction and he's still psych major enough to see it, but that’s why he stays in the abandoned hut at jungle’s edge and lets the hostile drain him, ounce by ounce, every nerve ecstatically afire, until the day this woman Sam walks in, shoots his hostile goddess faceless, and saves him.

He loves her now, that’s not in question, and he never loved the vampire whore, neither of which explains why the dark eerie whispers of gallant dark knights lost to electricity and Slayers in dark throes have sent him back to Sunnydale, just to check. Just to see.

So, you remember back when I was rewatching "Surprise" and got all excited about the flowers vs. not-flowers thing in Buffy's dream? (Recap: Dru complains that the flowers on the garlands on her party chairs are "All wrong." They're removed. Later, Buffy dreams of the factory, and the flowers are, again, gone. Dru has foreseen/effected reality.) I couldn't see the point of it, other than a nebulous Buffy-Dru dream connection.

Tonight I figured it out.

No flowers = deflowering. Duh.

Still no cohesive theory on exactly what the Dru-Buffy connection is about, but I'm even more convinced now that there is one. 'Cuz Buffy keeps dreaming that Dru is a danger to Angel, and yet it's Buffy who finally causes his downfall, both now and in "Becoming." There's some kind of Dru-as-Buffy's-shadow-self thing going on.

So, you remember back when I was rewatching "Surprise" and got all excited about the flowers vs. not-flowers thing in Buffy's dream? (Recap: Dru complains that the flowers on the garlands on her party chairs are "All wrong." They're removed. Later, Buffy dreams of the factory, and the flowers are, again, gone. Dru has foreseen/effected reality.) I couldn't see the point of it, other than a nebulous Buffy-Dru dream connection.

Tonight I figured it out.

No flowers = deflowering. Duh.

Still no cohesive theory on exactly what the Dru-Buffy connection is about, but I'm even more convinced now that there is one. 'Cuz Buffy keeps dreaming that Dru is a danger to Angel, and yet it's Buffy who finally causes his downfall, both now and in "Becoming." There's some kind of Dru-as-Buffy's-shadow-self thing going on.

Title: Abandon Hope (The Mary Quite Contrary Remix)Fandom: Buffy the Vampire SlayerCharacter: DrusillaWord Count: 1000 words | 10 drabblesRating: PG (for lyrical gore)Spoilers: Explicit spoilers through the end of S2, implied spoilers through the end of the series

This is a remix of aadler's story All Ye Who Enter for remixredux09. There's a ton of notes coming in a separate post (EDIT: commentary is here), because it took a ton of notes to write this fic, but for now here's the fic itself.

Title: Abandon Hope (The Mary Quite Contrary Remix)Fandom: Buffy the Vampire SlayerCharacter: DrusillaWord Count: 1000 words | 10 drabblesRating: PG (for lyrical gore)Spoilers: Explicit spoilers through the end of S2, implied spoilers through the end of the series

This is a remix of aadler's story All Ye Who Enter for remixredux09. There's a ton of notes coming in a separate post (EDIT: commentary is here), because it took a ton of notes to write this fic, but for now here's the fic itself.